Gavin de Becker on Oprah

Hooray for Oprah Winfrey for dedicating an entire hour to human intuition, and how it can save us. Hooray for Gavin de Becker, threat assessment expert & bestselling author, for doing an entire show about women’s safety WITHOUT trying to scare the shit out of us as an attempt to educate. Gavin was on Oprah’s show earlier this week to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of his book, The Gift of Fear. On the cover it reads, “This book can save your life.” When I first saw the pretty lofty claim before reading it in 2001, I thought it was a marketing ploy. Now it’s the phrase I use when recommending the book to people I meet and care about. But you might be wondering, what’s so great about Gavin, his stellar threat assessment management firm and the book itself? Frankly, that would be a pretty long blog post since I have personally experienced the exceptional training with GdB at their bi-annual Advanced Threat Assessment Academy in California. But if I had to narrow it down, I’d say what makes it most effective is its simplicity. It’s the message that you don’t have to be a black belt ninja to save your own life. Instead, you just need to take note of that little voice inside that says, “Huh. Something just doesn’t feel right.” And instead of ignoring it, taking action or at least examining WHY you feel that way. My mentor of 7 years is Robert J. Martin, the Vice President of Gavin de Becker & Associates. Without Bob, Girls Fight Back never would have been a blip on the radar and I’m eternally grateful for his ongoing guidance. I’m thankful to Gavin and his entire team for making this world a safer place, and for giving the everyday person the credentials to be their own protector. To watch video of the show, click here.

I was equally impressed with Oprah’s show on “The Gift of Fear.” In my religion, we call that little voice that says, “this doesn’t feel right,” the Holy Ghost. If we listen to that still, small voice, we can save ourselves from a TON of trouble!